Gallery Video
GEORGE NEWS & VIDEO - The long wait is over. Seven years after his release from the notorious Black Beach prison in Equatorial Guinea, Daniel Janse van Rensburg's book, Black Beach, was officially launched during an invitational event at Cornerstone Creek in Hoekwil last night, Thursday 29 September.
The event was attended by about 50 invited guests, Janse van Rensburg's family and co-author Tracey Pharoah.
Janse van Rensburg was released in 2015 after two years of just trying to stay alive following his wrongful arrest. He was imprisoned from September 2013 after an aircraft-brokering deal with Equatorial Guinea's president's brother-in-law, Gabriel Mba Angabie, turned sour.
Black Beach Prison is described as one of the most dangerous jails in the world. It has a reputation for systematically neglecting and brutalising
inmates. Medical treatment is usually denied to inmates and food rations are said to be meagre. While Janse van Rensburg was in prison he was forced to witness many atrocities including murder, brutal stabbings and rape.
He dedicated the book to his wife, Melanie, and mother Martha, who he says, fought tirelessly to bring him home and end his nightmare. "This has been a difficult story to tell, as many events have been painful to revisit, and along the way a few details have blurred in my memory," says Janse van Rensburg.
"When I got back and went for a medical check-up, my doctor said it was part of the healing process, but that I shouldn't type it, I must write it by hand. Every time I remembered something I would write it down, but eventually I stopped and two years later I forced myself to start writing.
It's difficult to go back and remember. You don't want to remember these things. It was really, really difficult to write this book. You have to
focus on the parts you don't want to think about and that you're trying to forget," he said.
But for Janse van Rensburg this book is also a celebration of hope. "By the grace of God I'm here. There were people who helped me and there was a real spirit of friendship and love, even in that dark place. That's is something I wanted to bring out in this book, so people can see there is hope. I want people to know there is hope, even in the worst places in the world."
The final book launch, which is open to the public, will be held from 15:30 to 17:00 at The Girls restaurant in Wilderness this afternoon.
VIDEO: Daniel Janse van Rensburg speaks about his book launch
'We bring you the latest George, Garden Route news'
